Uber launches in Wellington

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RickD

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#151594 30-Aug-2014 04:07

http://blog.uber.com/205-55

Uber launched in Wellington today according to their blog.

I've used it in Australia and London and it's awesome. uberX seems 25-50% cheaper than a taxi. I look forward to trying to trying it out when I'm back, especially if airport pick ups are allowed.

p.s. if anyone wants my $10 free credit code send me a message.

timmmay

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#1118327 30-Aug-2014 06:24

Interested to hear peoples experiences in Wellington. There's no pricing on their website.

andrewNZ

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#1118328 30-Aug-2014 06:38

I thought it was already established that uber is essentially illegal in NZ.

You can't operate like a taxi unless you're registered. The police have been cracking down on a facebook based system in Dunedin for a while.

nathan

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#1118352 30-Aug-2014 08:48

private driving service, is it really illegal?

I've used it overseas and it is cheaper there. I've looked at using it in Auckland and looked into the pricing and it really didn't seem any cheaper at all for my regular CBD-airport trips

johny99

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#1118409 30-Aug-2014 10:04

having used both uber and zoomy, zoomy just felt easier, nice that zoomy doesn't charge a crazy CCard fee,

macuser

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#1118412 30-Aug-2014 10:09

All the Ubers I've used in Auckland are just taxi's who use uber as their booking service, because their company doesn't have one.

nakedmolerat

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#1118417 30-Aug-2014 10:28

andrewNZ: I thought it was already established that uber is essentially illegal in NZ.

You can't operate like a taxi unless you're registered. The police have been cracking down on a facebook based system in Dunedin for a while.

The New Zealand Transport Agency said Uber was effectively acting as a booking agent for a network of private hire service providers - not as a taxi firm - and those private hire services were a long-established form of passenger service in New Zealand.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/60385508/uber-app-sugarcoated-poison--cabbies

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khull

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#1118426 30-Aug-2014 10:50

Taxi services are essentially in need of a major overhaul. The prices that they charge are not reasonably justified. Welcome any disrupters in the industry. Yes the competitors are going to discredit each other but happens everywhere. At the end of the day consumers will vote with their wallet

sbiddle

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#1118496 30-Aug-2014 12:56

The taxi industry in NZ needs a bomb under it. It's proof of what happens in an industry that stuck a few decades in the past and sees no real need to change.

As to whether Uber is illegal in NZ, that's a tricky question to answer. The app itself is not illegal, however the law is very clear that pretty much anybody transporting people payment requires a passenger service licence. Assuming drivers have this (and it seems that the bulk of the Uber drivers in Auckland are taxi drivers who are actually driving taxis!) they are operating legally.

Looking at the quotes for prices in Wellington they aren't really that different to a regular taxi for many longer routes. It's $25 to the airport from the CBD (which seems to be a flat rate), however want to catch a cab out to the Hutt and the pricing is pretty much identical to a regular cab. Prices for around town look reasonable, in part because you're not paying the $3.50 flag fall.

I used Uber twice in San Francisco last week (actually my 1st and 2nd times) and love the concept. I do question how well it'll succeed in Wellington though and whether there is the population to support it.